THE FEAST OF THE GAEL.
105
Beneath lies the symbol of faith and of passion
Alike of the Pagan and Christian priest!
II.
When native laws by native kings
At Tara were decreed,
The grand old Gheber worship
Was the form of Erin's creed.
The Sun, Life-Giver, was God on high;
Men worshipped the Power they saw;
And they kept the faith as the ages rolled
By the solemn Beltane law.
Each year, on the Holy Day, was quenched
The household fires of the land;
And the Druid priest, at the midnight hour,
Brought forth the flaming brand,—
The living spark for the Nation's hearths,—
From the Monarch's hand it came.
Whose fire at Tara spread the sign—
And the peopje were One by the flame!
